We know that taking time for ourselves is essential, yet it’s the last thing on our minds. And, one fine morning, we wake up defeated by stress and fatigue, because our daily lives now boil down to our obligations. That’s why I’m sharing with you 6 tips for making time for yourself.

1 – Taking time for yourself: freeing yourself from your beliefs

Taking time for ourselves can seem unthinkable. Or we may feel guilty about it. But why should we?

Because we’ve certainly heard these two beliefs before:

To succeed, you have to work hard
This belief is so widespread and accepted that it leads to stress and burnout.

At work, we have to look stressed and fidget to show how hard we’re working. Indeed, if you’re sitting peacefully behind your desk, you look suspicious. “Doesn’t she have anything to do?!

What if the peaceful person was simply someone who is organized and knows how to respect their own rhythm and limits?

Enjoy life to the full
Enjoying life to the full will also lead to more stress and exhaustion.

But vacations are meant to recharge our batteries, aren’t they? So why do we travel to the other side of the world for a week and make 3 or 4 visits in a single day? Because we want to enjoy life to the full?

We’d be “ashamed” to tell our colleagues and friends that we spent our vacations at home, doing nothing but relaxing…

In fact, we live in a world of “always more”. What if it were better to do less to live better?

That’s why taking time out for yourself means choosing peace and quiet rather than more, and learning to respect your own rhythm and limits!

Stop believing that we are machines and that we have to do more and more. We don’t have to prove anything to anyone. We have to live, feel and be at peace.

2 – Taking the time somewhere

Too often, we wait until we have the time to take time for ourselves. But in the expression “take time for yourself”, there’s the word TAKE. This means not waiting, but taking!

That’s why I’m inviting you to organize some one-on-one time with yourself

You can start small, i.e., begin with 5-10 minutes, then increase as you go along.

Unfortunately, many of us already have our diaries filled to the brim, so how can we find even those 5-10 minutes for ourselves?

Here are a few ideas. We can :

reduce TV time
remove notifications from your smartphone
limit your time on the Internet
delegate all the things you don’t like to do, by investing in a dishwasher for example, or hiring a professional to do the housework…
ask those around you for help
All these little things will help us to stop wasting our time and keep it for taking care of ourselves.

Then, when you make an appointment for yourself, write it down in your diary and next to it, jot down a few ideas that you could practice during this time for yourself. This will make you want to stop for a while even more.

Here are a few ideas:

Go for a massage
Yoga
Read
Start a quotation book
Handicrafts: drawing, sewing, repairing an object…
Take photos
Discover a new neighborhood, a new restaurant
Watch a favorite movie again
Listen to your favorite music
Sunbathing in a park

3 – Knowing how to relax and take breaks

Taking time for yourself also means learning to breathe, by taking breaks.

But what is a break? In fact, every time we finish a task – writing an e-mail, having a telephone conversation, washing the dishes, sweeping up… – we take a few seconds or minutes to do nothing but breathe. That’s what a pause is!

We can also repeat to ourselves this lovely Amerindian proverb:

“Where my feet are, there I belong.”

These few words will help us to savour this little time for ourselves.

4 – Taking time for yourself: taking a small step

If there’s one thing that prevents us from taking time for ourselves, it’s our inner perfectionist. And why is that? Because it eats up all our time. Because nothing is good enough, we have to keep working over and over again, or be the world’s most perfect parent or friend, and give over and over again.

The problem is that nothing in life is perfect. And life isn’t perfect either.

So how do you break away from the perfectionist and take time for yourself?

Instead of looking only at results, let’s focus on progress with this question: Today, did I take a small step towards my project, my goal?

This simple question has the power to help us stop trying to do more and more. It will soothe us and replace fear and frustration with peace and satisfaction. It’s magic!

5 – Taking time for yourself: trusting yourself

It’s essential to know how to trust yourself, and therefore how to listen to yourself.

Indeed, if these days we feel the need to take some time for ourselves, it’s because we have to!

So, rather than listening to our guilt-ridden, self-doubting voice, we listen to our intuition and take time for ourselves.

Sometimes, you’ll need some time to yourself, and it may not seem like the right time at all, but remember that this time for yourself helps you recharge your batteries and nourish your creativity – in other words, it’s not useless time, quite the opposite!

6 – Remember that time is precious

I’m going to share with you a beautiful story that will help you do less and live better.

“The magic bank.

Imagine that every morning, a bank opens an account for you for 86400 dollars, euros, pounds…. Nothing is asked in return. There are just two rules.

The first is that anything you don’t spend during the day will be taken away from you in the evening. In other words, you can’t accumulate or save anything.

The second rule is that the bank reserves the right to interrupt the game at any time without notice.

What would you spend your money on? Surely on your happiness and that of your loved ones? I imagine you’ll treat yourself, won’t you?

What if I told you that this bank really exists and that you’ve had an account there since you were born? This bank is time!

We have 86400 seconds a day. That’s why every second must be devoted to building your happiness and that of your loved ones. Every second counts, because we can’t accumulate them or save them, and above all, they can be taken away from us without notice and at any time… “

Find out more:

I invite you to read these 2 complementary articles:

Discover Stop chasing time: 9 secrets for simplifying and slowing down
Discover How to manage your time: 7 useful tips

I recommend this inspiring book:

The Art of Taking It Easy by Dr. Brian King.

The author explores the importance of self-care and finding moments of relaxation in our hectic lives. The book provides ideas and practical advice on how to balance the demands of daily life with intentional breaks and self-care activities. Dr. King’s work encourages us to prioritize taking time for ourselves, fostering mental well-being and cultivating a healthier, more enjoyable lifestyle.

A humorous and light-hearted take on why we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously. It’s a good reminder of why and how to combat life’s common stressors.

Thank you very much for reading this article.

If you liked it, let me know in the comments.

Take care of yourself